Cheaha Challenge Century

It’s been an awesome, fun couple weeks of biking that I want to catch
everyone up on. I’ll go in reverse order with today’s
Cheaha Challenge,
billed as the toughest ride in the South. And it was tough. The course is
an out and back course which means that you ride out 50.65 miles and then
turn around and ride back the exact same way for a total of 101.3 miles. It
took just a little over 5 hours for an average speed of 20.1 mph. I topped
out at 52.1 mph coming down one of the hills near rest stop #3 on the map
above. I was able to stay with the lead group all the way until the climb
coming back up Cheaha Mountain on the way back. I got dropped as the lead
three riders just slowly pulled away from me. That would have meant a
lonely 45 miles back to the start, but my dad and Kristine met me at
several points to cheer me on and give me food and water. They are awesome!
Here’s a picture of Kristine waiting at the finish, and here’s one of
Analise looking more tired than daddy!

Sunny King Criterium
(Click on each image to see a larger image)

Saturday afternoon we all loaded into my parents car and drove to Anniston, AL
for the Sunny King Criterium. This was the first criterium my parents had seen
me race since before I left for grad school in California! It was also the largest
criterium I’ve done since 1998. There were 77 people in my race, and I ended
up placing 14th. I was in fairly good position going into the last corner, but
a rider was going very slow in front of me going into the last corner, and I lost
several positions trying to get around him. There was an exciting professional
race after my race. There were 100 professional and Category 1 riders in the race,
and it was exciting. There were four cameras set up around the course, and three
large wide screen TV’s set up in the start/finish area to watch all the action.
The two videos below are of the Pro-1 race. It was fast! I’ll let the pictures
speak for themselves. Click on each one to see a larger image.

(Click here for high-res version – 3.2 MB)

(Click here for high-res version – 3.2 MB)

The ladies watch a small breakaway in an earlier race.	Analise and Grandma “bwaca” try to figure out how to climb the tree.
There were some exciting little kids races with parents frantically running after their children. Analise is for sure doing this next year!	Runners line up for the 1km dash-for-cash.
Analise tries to take a nap in the “bed” she found, which was actually my warm-up rollers!	The pro race was so exciting to watch, especially with the widescreen TV’s and video cameras setup all around the course.

This past weekend was spent chasing Brian around on his bike:) Saturday was a criterium, which involves 1 hour of racing on a very short course. In this case, it was held in downtown Anniston, on a 4 city block square. This is a pretty big race, drawing good cyclists from all over the country. Brian’s parents went with us, and we had a fun time staking out a good spot to watch the action and enjoying a food festival while Brian got ready. He did really well, placing 14th overall, of about 70 racers, and actually winning a little bit of money. It was an exciting race! The race wasn’t until 6:15pm, so we didn’t get home until almost 10.

Sunday was another cycling race, called the Cheaha Challenge. It’s known as the “toughest ride in the South” because it’s 102 miles up and over – and back – Mount Cheaha, the highest point in Alabama. We had to leave at 5am, in the middle of a huge thunder and lightning storm here in Birmingham. Thirty minutes from the start, as we were going to be arriving just minutes before the scheduled start, Brian realizes that he has no bike shorts:), just a pair of tights he’d brought to layer under his bike shorts due to the cool, rainy weather. Hmm… after 102 miles he was going to be awfully sore without the padding in his bike shorts:( After we dropped him off in the pouring rain (with the start delayed 15 minutes), we were driving out to our first spectating point on the course and realized he’d forgotten his glasses. Ag! We were able to hand them to him, though. The weather cleared up, and it even ended up being a warm, nice day by the time he finished 5hours, 2 minutes later. We saw him at several different points. For more than half the race, he was in the lead pack, but he dropped back some in the 2nd half, and ended up finishing 4th (behind 2 professionals). He was pleased with the race, and I was impressed:) I love watching him race!

Two funny moments of the weekend. First, Saturday evening at the criterium, Brian wanted to stay to watch the professional race, which was right after he finished. Analise and I were pretty tired, so we retreated to the Toone car to watch a DVD. As the race was wrapping up, a truck pulled into the parking lot, with about 6 or 7 men seated in the bed area. At first glance, they were all wearing boldly black and white striped shirts. Hmm, I thought, wonder what kind of group would pick shirts like that, since they looked a lot like something from a jail. They backed in next to us for a moment, and when one of them stood up, I saw that it wasn’t just a shirt, but a whole black and white jumpsuit. Hmm… guess their “group” actually was a jail! I guess they were there to clean up after the festivities.

The other fun moment came as Brian was recapping his race. The last 25 miles were a bit of a mental battle for him, as he was riding alone, and it was gentle rolling hills that seemed very long after all the up and down climbing of the first 3/4 of the race. Anyway, he rode past a little turtle who was just starting across the road. But he couldn’t go too far without feeling like he needed to go back and rescue the turtle, helping him cross the road. My husband is a hero! (He gets this from me… I’ll ALWAYS stop to help turtles across the road.) I’m so proud of him! Note… he’d probably have broken 5 hours if he hadn’t helped the turtle:)

I’m not sure who reads all the way to the end of my blogs, especially the ones without pictures, but I just have to add this. My husband is amazing:) It’s the craziest time of year for him, as he’s helping students nearly around the clock (it’s 10:44 pm, and he’s at school helping them with a project due tomorrow!), getting tests graded, finals written, trying to wrap up the semester. He’s got so much on his plate at work. Here at home, he’s been so much help, trying to take as much of the burden off me as he can. He’s doing so much of the stuff that I would normally do, and I can’t even tell you how much I appreciate it without tearing up. To top it all off, he’s putting up with emotional me, and being strong when I dissolve into tears almost nightly for any number of reasons. I’m sure he’s overwhelmed and stressed – when he has a moment to think about it – but he’s been amazing, and I’m so thankful to have him! I love you, Brian!!

Finally my beautiful little girl’s hair is long enough for pigtails. Oh my goodness, I just can’t help grinning everytime I look at her – she’s so cute with the little curls bouncing around! I love it! It was hard to snag a picture of her, though. Here’s the two best!

Gardening with Bwaca
I can’t remember if I’ve posted this or not, but Analise has decided on names for Grandma – Bwaca – and Grandpa – Boppa. I tell ya, it doesn’t matter what you decide ahead of time you want them to be called… children are going to put their own names on them!
Anyway, here are a few cute pictures from Analise’s afternoon of gardening with Bwaca earlier this week. She just loves to be in the dirt doing exactly what Grandma does!

Singing!
Back as a baby, we got a set of 3 bible CD’s as a gift for Analise. For some unknown reason, I’ve not opened it until now. I started playing the CD instead of my music, the TV or nothing, and Analise LOVES the music! Every time a song ends, she’ll say, “moh singing!”. I play it in the DVD player, so it plays through the TV. Now if we even turn on the TV, she’ll say, “singing??”. Last night we were in the car, playing one of her CDs on our way home from an evening out (to the sno-cone place, my newest addiction, and Walmart – how’s that for a night out?). She fell asleep while the CD was playing and we were driving home. We pulled into the garage, turned the music and car off, and suddenly we hear this groggy, “moh singing…” from the backseat. It was so funny – sound asleep and she still noticed it was over. If anyone has any unused kids’s music CD’s – even Veggie Tales! – and cares to send them our way, Analise would love it!

Baby Shower Moments
I was recounting to Brian a couple funny moments from the baby shower on Monday and thought I’d share them with you. First, I have to admit, I’ve been going to the women’s mission group for a year or more now, but I’m still terrible with names. It varies from month to month as to who is there and who isn’t, and seeing people only once a month or less doesn’t help me retain their names. So as I was opening gifts, I didn’t know who some… well, most of the gifts were from, and unfortunately, Beverly was not sitting next to me to save me. So I thought I’d ask the lady who was writing down what the gifts were/who they were from. I read the first card out loud – “Best wishes from Joyce Marcus” and I asked her who Joyce Marcus was. “That’s me,” was her reply. Oh, goodness, was I embarrassed. (Beverly did tell me that she’s not been there in several months, so it’s not surprising that I didn’t know her, but I still feel bad!
The other funny moment was when I pulled a towel/washcloth set out of a bag. I was holding it up for everyone, and a frame slide out from the folds of the towel. I showed it off, and said thank you, but noticed that it still had the tag on it, and wondered… After the shower, the lady who’d given me the towel came over sheepishly and said she was so embarrassed to tell me that she hadn’t meant for the frame to be in there. I had guessed that might be the case, and told her it was no big deal. She felt terrible, but her granddaughter had picked it out when they were shopping, and when they got home, they’d looked all over and couldn’t find it. So she really wanted to be able to give it to her.

Ok, we’re off to have a quiet day here, picking up a little around the house to get ready for home church, and maybe venturing out for a birthday gift that I need to pick up. Hope you’ve enjoyed my random chit-chat and photos!

Today was my 35-week appointment with my regular OB, Dr. Lyle. Two weeks ago, I’d seen another doctor in the practice, who wasn’t sure that our little boy was in the right head-down position. He’s a lively little one, though, so I wondered if he’d flip-flopped himself since then. Dr. Lyle wasn’t sure by his poking and prodding, so we had an ultrasound that Brian managed to join me for. Sure enough, lour little one is breech, with his butt down, and head comfortably under my rib cage, where he regularly head-butts me. He’s measuring at about 5lbs, and my due has slid around so many times, I’m not sure where they’ll put it offically on my chart. But today’s measurements estimated a due date of June 10th. I’ve got another appointment next week, and probably another ultrasound in 2 weeks or so. In any case, we can cross our fingers that he’ll somersault, otherwise we’ll be talking about scheduling a c-section 5-10 days early. Turn, baby, turn! It was fun to see his little profile on the ultrasound, though. Can’t wait to meet him! Oh, and in case you were wondering… it’s still VERY MUCH a little boy:)

I also wanted to add this little link that tells/shows what babies are like at various weeks of fetal development. It’s at 34/35 weeks, which is right about where I am.

First off, Corrie asked in the last post what kinds of things I got as gifts at the baby shower. We got some nice onesie’s and sleepers, all in varying sizes, which is SO useful, to have bigger stuff in the closet ready for when we’re running out of room in the newborn size:) We got 3 handmade receiving blankets (2 flannel, 1 cotton) that are SO soft. A friend had called me last week to meet her at Hancock Fabrics so I could pick out fabric for a quilt she wanted to make for the baby. So yesterday, though the quilt isn’t quite done, she had the finished quilt top, which is BEAUTIFUL. I can’t wait to post a picture of it! The main fabric is a rainbow paint splatter, and then the coordinating fabrics are red, yellow, green, blue and orange prints. I can’t wait to see the finished product! We got some wipes, towels and washcloths, and a few books. We also got a cute little Precious Moment’s little baby boy doll that prays, and Analise has taken quite a liking to him. She really likes the fact that he prays. She can’t always squeeze him to make it work, so she’ll say, “more amen!” to get me to do it:)

Today I managed to get to my swim class. Ahhh… what a relief. We came home to find that Brian’s parents had been here working on our yard – mowing, raking the flower beds, trimming, etc. Beverly came back this afternoon and spent several hours planting flowers in the beds, and Analise had quite a fun time digging with her. I’ll post some pictures later tonight:) It’s so frustrating, though, because I wish I could be more help. I’d love to be down there helping out weeding, raking, etc, but honestly… it’s all I can m anage to sweep off the front porch before my back is hurting too bad. So I spent most of the afternoon on the porch trying to keep Analise from moving too much good potting soil from the flower bed to the grass. *sigh* I’m ready to get a normal non-pregnant body back.

Now that the whining’s done, I’m so very thankful for the help and our beautiful yard!! My in-laws are great!!

I’m a part of the a women’s mission group at Brian’s parents church, Lakeside. I also help present the monthly program occassionally. This month’s program was planned ahead of time, and I had determined that I probably was going to NOT go, because it conflicts with my swim class, which I’m desperate for these days. Last week, though, the director called and asked if I’d be willing to run the meeting, since her mother is in the hospital and being transferred to a nursing home. Of course, I said yes. It’s not like it was going to be much work… I just had to do the welcome, prayer, announcements, etc. I just was not thrilled to “have” to go, when I really wanted to be at my swim class.

Well, today dawned, and I managed to get Analise and I over there. The meeting went smoothly, ‘cept that there were no refreshments set out, which seemed a little odd. I just figured they’d been forgotten. At the end of the meeting, though, someone piped up and said there were refreshments waiting for us in the next room. I was ready to dash off and pick up Analise from the child care, but Brian’s mom nudged me in to get something to eat. Surprise… a baby shower was waiting for me! It was so sweet. We got some really nice things, plenty of blue to balance out all the pink we have leftover from Analise. I think this is starting to make it feel real that we have a little one arriving in the next month or so!

It was a fun surprise:) I feel bad that I hadn’t wanted to go, but boy, what a sweet bunch of ladies!

Besides the busy day of ice cream on Tuesday, not much has been going on around the Toone household. I’m trying to be better about not overdoing so that in the evenings I’m not feeling too bad. I’ve had some nice quiet afternoons scrapbooking, while Analise plays around my feet – literally. In case you missed the photo in the 39 Easter Photo post, she’s quite infatuated with toes lately. She wakes up from snuggling in our bed in the mornings or after a nap saying, “Whe’s toes?” and goes looking for our feet. Then she always says, “Hey, toes!” I think she’s particularly pleased with my toes… they look really nice after my pedicure on our trip last weekend:) But if I’m at the computer or the table scrapbooking, she enjoys coming to play with my toes every so often.

Anyway, it’s been nice to be scrapbooking. I’ve got tons of fun scrapbooking stuff that I’m always looking to use, and I’ve got loads of photos from Analise’s early days to use. Tonight we’re going to the Spring Fling at Brian’s parents church. Games, booths, pizza, popcorn and hot dogs… should be fun. Then I think we’ve got some errands to run that I’ve been avoiding doing by myself. Groceries and Home Depot – how’s that sound for a fun Friday night?

Tomorrow Brian has a meeting at church in the morning, and then we’ll head to Oak Mountain State Park for a Samford Computer Science Department picnic. Should be a nice day!

Have I mentioned that my husband is amazing and is taking such good care of me? He’s doing so much lately, and this is his busiest time of year at school. He’s awesome… I hope he knows how much I appreciate him!

We’re on our way out the door for FREE CONE DAY at Ben & Jerry’s. Woohoo! If there’s one near you, I hope you get a chance to take advantage of this, too! Maybe we’ll even get a picture!

We’ve had an awesome last couple weeks surrounding Easter. I’ve included
39 pictures below summarizing a view of our Easter week life. Click
on each picture for a larger version. Click the “back” button on your
browser to continue to view more pictures.

		Kristine follows after a determined Analise runs up a hill looking for easter eggs at the first ever Clearwater Easter Egg hunt.
		The dogwood tree we planted in our front yard last year is blooming this year. Beautiful pink and white flowers.
		Before home church on Thursday night, Analise enjoys playing in the pile of dirt left by a water crew replacing pipe at the edge of our yard.
		Part of our home church gathers outside while Analise plays and people are still arriving. From left to right, the Hamby’s, the Saunders’, and the Toone’s!
		Analise loves toes. One night before bed, she wanted all of us to put our toes on the rocker. She was quite happy, even if a little “tarred” (i.e., tired).
		On the day before Easter, we enjoyed an Easter Egg hunt at Oak Mountain State Park. When we got there, there were Easter eggs everywhere!
		Analise reaches for an Easter egg at the base of a pine tree.
		Kristine holds Analise’s bunny easter egg basket.
		Analise and grandma walk back to us after visiting the ducks by the lake.
		Analise dances and plays in the dirt.
		Analise was so hot and tired after all her running around she decided she was ready for a nap. So she laid down on this blanket and all by herself pulled the corner of it over herself like a blanket.
		Analise’s friend Laurel enjoyed sharing her food by putting it on Analise’s plate for Analise to eat. Analise awaits eagerly the next piece of food.
		We had Easter dinner Saturday night at grandma’s house. Afterwards, Analise wanted everyone to get in a circle and “say amen”. This included the giant bunnies you see here.
		Analise and Kristine smile next to a wooden Easter bunny in grandma’s front yard.
		Smiling again, this time next to a well full of Easter lilies.
		Heading out the door for church, here is Kristine and Analise in their Easter outfits.
		Kristine and I took care of the kids during the Sunday morning church service. So here are all of Analise’s friends from church.
		Analise inspired everyone to wear hats … including her mommy!
		After church, Kristine and I dropped Analise off with grandma and headed out of town for a short weekend getaway in Lookout Mountain, Georgia near Chattanooga, Tennessee. This will probably be our last getaway before the Toone family becomes a family of four! I took my bike and went for a short bike ride before dinner.
		In the distance, you can see the waterfall from the Rock City rock garden park. Our B & B was just up the mountain on the right.
		Here is the view off the top of Lookout Mountain looking west towards Alabama.
		For dinner, we drove down the mountain to downtown Chattanooga and ate at Tony’s in the Bluff View art district. This large bridge is actually a pedestrian bridge that spans the Tennessee river.
		Here is the view of the sunset sky and the Tennessee River walk.
		A kayaker paddles at the foot of a large cliff with the Art museum perched above.
		I went for another bike ride Monday morning and snapped this picture of a large tree growing on the side of a cliff on Lookout Mountain.
		This old abandoned part of the roadway looks like it was carved into the cliff. Now, a large bridge spans the chasm that this old roadway hugged the cliff to avoid.
		Here is a picture looking through the old roadway underneath the modern bridge past I-24 a hundred feet below and all the way down to the Tennessee River.
		This is the view from the halfway point as Incline Railway makes its way from Chattanooga straight up to the top of the mountain.
		Here is the view from the halfway point looking back down the mountain.
		We “saw Rock City”! This amazing rock garden is almost like a maze and includes a waterfall, a view of seven states, a fairyland cavern, and amazing trees like this one growing out of, between, and over rocks.
		The happy getaway couple next to Mushroom Rock.
		Here is Kristine in front of the spot where you can view seven states on a clear day.
		I think Kristine was tired of me taking her picture by this point!
		We asked another tourist to take our picture here with the viewing platform for the waterfall in the background.
		This is one of Rocky City’s attractions: a waterfall cascading out of the rock into a pool below.
		This is the view from below of the swinging, hanging bridge which we had just walked across a few minutes earlier.
		Here is a pretty purple tree next to the walking path through Rock City.
		Finally, here is a view of the Tennessee River and downtown Chattanooga from Point Park at the spot where Lookout Mountain literally comes to a point and drops dramatically straight down to the river.

You might be wondering if we decided not to return from our short weekend getaway, since we haven’t posted in a while:) We did come back Monday evening, after 30 lovely hours of relaxing together in Lookout Mountain, GA. Brian prepped all the pictures to post, but I can’t seem to find them right now. And if I don’t post a blog now, it might be a while until I get back to it!

My husband is amazing… He picked a super location for both of us to enjoy. I would have been happy anywhere, just for a bit of time without mommy duties, and maybe a whirlpool to soak in. BUt Lookout Mountain, GA and Chattanooga, TN on a quiet Easter Sunday/Monday were perfect for both ofus. I think I’ll save the rest of my detailing for the post with the pictures.

We had a great Easter weekend, with an Easter egg hunt on Saturday and dinner with Brian’s family that evening. Sunday morning we went to early church at Brian’s parent’s church, and then worked in the nursery at our church. Then we dropped a sleeping Analise off at her grandparents while we headed off together. She had a wonderful time with Boppa and Bwacca (honestly, Analise came up with these names all by herself!).

It’s been a quiet week. Brian’s super busy with the semester coming to a close in less than a month. Today was Earth Day, and he had one of his classes working on a presentation for that. I’ve been chasing my busy girl and trying not to aggravate my back too much.

Exciting news… we just found out our friends Steve and Corrie are coming to see us in August! Yeah!!! We’re going to have a fun busy summer of visitors with my mom coming for most of June to help out with the new little one, my dad coming for a bit in late June, and the Hafflys in August. Anyone else want to come? We’d love to have you!

Ok, hope to be back soon with Easter and other pictures!